30 Days to Better Thinking and Better Living Through Critical Thinking: A Guide for Improving Every Aspect of Your Life, Revised and Expanded, CourseSmart eTextbook

Description

Better critical thinking can transform your life and help you improve every decision you make! Now, in just 30 days, master specific, easy-to-learn critical thinking techniques that help you cut through lies, gain insight, and make smarter choices in every area of your life -- from work and money to intimate relationships. World-renowned critical thinking experts Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Paul show how to overcome poor thinking habits caused by self-deception or out-of-control emotions... clarify what you really want... recognize what you don't know... ask better questions... resist brainwashing, manipulation, and hypocrisy... critically evaluate what you're told by advertisers, politicians, your boss, even your family... avoid worrying, conformism, and blame. Each day, readers focus on a specific thinking habit, learning practical strategies for achieving results and keeping a journal of daily progress. Expanded, improved, and easier to use, this new Revised and Expanded editon offers today's most complete and practical plan for using critical thinking to build a better life. It includes:

Five new "days" of critical thinking workouts, with even more powerful "life improvement" ideas

New illustrations and diagrams that clarify the relevance of critical thinking in real life

A practical new introduction to the world-renowned Paul-Elder Framework for Critical Thinking, and much more

Table of Contents

Introduction 1Day One: Discover Your Ignorance 47Day Two: Strive to Be a Person of Integrity: Beware of Your Own Hypocrisy 51Day Three: Empathize with Others 55Day Four: Deliberately Target Your Purposes 57Day Five: Don’t Be a Conformist: Think for Yourself 61Day Six: Clarify Your Thinking 67Day Seven: Be Relevant: Stick to the Point 71Day Eight: Be Reasonable 73Day Nine: Ask Deep Questions 77Day Ten: Distinguish Among Questions of Fact, Preference, and Judgment 81Day Eleven: Think Through Implications 87Day Twelve: Distinguish Inferences from Assumptions 91Day Thirteen: Don’t Be Fooled by the Words People Use: Look Underneath Words to Unspoken Realities 97Day Fourteen: When You Think You Have Arrived as a Critical Thinker, Think Again 103Day Fifteen: Be Fair, Not Selfish 107Day Sixteen: Get Control of Your Emotions 111Day Seventeen: Take Control of Your Desires 115Day Eighteen: Don’t Dominate Others: Don’t Be a Top Dog 119Day Nineteen: Don’t Be Submissive: Don’t Be an Underdog 123Day Twenty: Don’t Be Brainwashed by the News Media 127Day Twenty-One: Carefully Choose the Ideas You Take in from Television, Ads, Movies, and the Internet 131Day Twenty-Two: Don’t Be Bamboozled by Politicians 135Day Twenty-Three: Don’t Be a Blamer 139Day Twenty-Four: Don’t Be Righteous: Show Mercy 143Day Twenty-Five: Vow to Spend No Time Worrying 147Day Twenty-Six: Be a Citizen of the World 151Day Twenty-Seven: Do Something, Anything, to Help Make the World Better 155Day Twenty-Eight: See Your Development Occurring in Stages 157Day Twenty-Nine: Educate Yourself 163Day Thirty: Figure Out Where to Go from Here 167Reading Backwards 171Recommended Readings to Augment the Strategies 173Appendix: Glossary of Terms 177Index 219